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The National Hurricane Center said at 5 a.m. that Hurricane Maria maintained its intensity with 125 mph winds as the eye of the storm approached Turks and Caicos Islands.

Torrential winds and high waves have begun to subside along the northeast coast of Hispaniola.

Swells from Maria are expected to begin reaching the coast of the southeastern United States today. These swells are likely to cause dangerous surf and life-threatening rip currents for the next several days, even as Maria is forecast to remain well offshore.

Flash flood warnings continue in portions of Puerto Rico due to continued heavy rainfall from Maria's rainbands.

2 a.m. Friday

As of 2 a.m. Friday, Hurricane Maria continued to barrel closer towards Turks and Caicos Islands with speeds of 125 mph.

The National Hurricane Center reported torrential winds and high waves continued along the northeast coast of Hispaniola.

"The eye of Hurricane Maria was located near latitude 21.2 North, longitude 70.5 West. Maria is moving toward the northwest near 7 mph, but a motion toward thenorth-northwest is anticipated later today and Saturday. On the forecast track, Maria's eye will gradually move near or just east of the Turks and Caicos Islands and southeastern Bahamas today," the report stated.

11 p.m.

Hurricane Maria is still slowing making its way towards Turks and Caicos Islands. Torrential rain and dangerous high waves are expected along the north coast of Hispaniola.

The storm is 90 miles north northeast from Puerto Plata and around 65 miles east southeast from Grand Turk Island.

A Hurricane Warning is in effect for the Dominican Republic from Cabo Engano to Puerto Plata and Turks and Caicos Islands and the Southeastern.

A Tropical Storm Warning is in effect for the Dominican Republic west of Puerto Plata to the northern border of the Dominican Republic and Haiti.

A Tropical Storm Watch is in effect for central Bahamas.

8 p.m.

The large eye of Hurricane Maria is gradually approaching the Turks and Caicos islands with wind speeds up to 125 mph.

As of 8 p.m. ET, Maria was around 80 miles east southeast of Grand Turk Island and around 85 miles north northeast of Puerto Plata Dominican Republic.

A Hurricane Warning is in effect for the Dominican Republic from Cabo Engano to Puerto Plata and Turks and Caicos Islands and the Southeastern.

A Tropical Storm Warning is in effect for the Dominican Republic west of Puerto Plata to the northern border of the Dominican Republic and Haiti.

A Tropical Storm Watch is in effect for central Bahamas.

6 p.m.

A day after Hurricane Maria ravaged Puerto Rico, flooding towns, crushing homes and killing at least two people, millions of people on the island faced the dispiriting prospect of weeks and perhaps months without electricity.

The storm knocked out the entire grid across the U.S. territory of 3.4 million, leaving many without power to light their homes, cook, pump water or run fans, air conditioners or refrigerators. Now many are hunting for gas canisters for cooking, collecting rainwater or steeling themselves mentally for the hardships to come in the tropical heat. Some are even contemplating leaving the island.

“You cannot live here without power,” said Hector Llanos, a 78-year-old retired New York police officer who planned to go back to the U.S. mainland on Saturday to live there temporarily.

Like many Puerto Ricans, Llanos does not have a generator or gas stove. “The only thing I have is a flashlight,” he said, shaking his head.

2:35 p.m.

The U.S. Coast Guard says a woman and two children were rescued from a boat that went missing off Puerto Rico during Hurricane Maria, but a man died aboard the vessel.

The Coast Guard in Miami said in a statement that a British Royal Navy helicopter hoisted three people Thursday from the capsized vessel. It had sent a distress call Wednesday saying it was disabled and adrift in seas with 20-foot (6-meter) waves and 100 mph (160 kph) winds near Vieques, Puerto Rico.

The Coast Guard says the dead man’s body was not retrieved and that the boat had capsized.

The search included an HC-130 search plane, a fast response cutter, the USS Kearsage amphibious assault ship and Navy helicopters.